My Ancestor's Been in a Car Accident!
Vintage 3-wheel cargo bicycle, Riemer Wolf’s was a 4-wheel bicycle. Image courtesy of catawiki.com
31-year-old Riemer Willem Wolf, my wife's grand-uncle, was delivering laundry on Tuesday, April 13, 1943 at 3:15 PM. It was the middle of World War II, and he was riding his four-wheel delivery bicycle toward Amsterdam's East Dock. A truck rounded the corner, going so fast that the left wheels rode over the sidewalk. Riemer swerved when he saw it coming, but unfortunately, the truck driver swerved the same direction. Thankfully, Riemer was uninjured, but both wheels on one side of his bike were damaged.
I had a discussion with my daughter about this event as she found the police report while searching for genealogical records, and she was very excited. I received multiple text messages from her, including photos about other family members. But as I suggested that she upload the records for our ancestors on FamilySearch, she hesitated, “are you sure they are important enough?”
Stolen Bicycle Police Record, 1943
That is an interesting question, and its likely that not everyone would offer the same answer. To me, any historical record that has my ancestor’s name on it is important enough to preserve. If it's not interesting to me, there is a possibility that it will be to someone else, and who am I to make that decision? Certainly there are primary source records that have greater value and validity. But any source records help to place our ancestors in time, and provide details into their lives.
The Amsterdam City Archive includes a wide range to record types, all digitized and searchable. My wife’s dutch ancestors show up in many of Amsterdam’s records from World War II. Another of her grand-uncles, Johannes Wolf, is listed as a Shipping Clerk in his military register. During the war, Antonius Johannes Wolf, like his brother Jan Govert Wolf, was sent to Germany to work in a factory. A transport list dated September 21, 1942 indicated that Antonius was sent to the Junkers Airplane and Motorworks in Dessau, Germany.
Antonius Johannes Wolf, my wife’s grand-uncle
In the same World War II police reports that detailed Riemer’s car accident, my daughter also read of the crime wave of stolen bicycles. My wife’s grandfather, Henri Orri, had his bicycle stolen out of his garage at night on October 6, 1943. A total of five bicycles were stolen that day from various families across the area, but sadly all the reports indicated that there were no suspects.
As my daughter was searching the records, she also came upon the passport records of many of these great-uncles. Unfortunately we have few, if any photographs of my wife’s Dutch ancestors. Other than assuming they all look like my father-in-law, we always hope that we can find pictures. My daughter found the passport photos of several ancestors, and thrilled at the possibility of seeing a picture of her great-grandfather. Sadly, unlike the uncles, her great-grandfather’s passport record did not include a photograph of him.
Yet the wonderful thing about doing genealogy work is that the search never ends. You never know what the next record or photo will reveal about your ancestors. And the results are always exciting!